Lemon Tea
by BalderdashAndHappenstance
Summary: Emma is invited to dinner at Regina's and accepts despite being sick. Their budding relationship is still a secret, even from Henry.


Emma felt like hell. It had been a long time since she had managed to catch a cold, but here it was. Her ears were ringing, nose stuffed and running by turns, lips cracked and dry, fighting off alternating attacks of coughing or sneezing. Still, she managed to accompany Henry to dinner at Regina s. It had been his idea that she come along, and she certainly hadn t argued. Regina happened to be a pretty good cook when she wasn t trying to poison or curse anyone.

There had been polite chit chat during the meal, and Henry looked like he was perfectly happy sitting between them, polishing off a heaping portion of meatloaf and cauliflower. Emma felt a little guilty that she had only managed a few bites, but she could barely taste anything anyway. She d had to excuse herself several times to grab a tissue or muffle a coughing fit during the meal. The last time she had returned from one of these, Henry suggested that they stay the night (You look awful). Regina had been unusually quick to offer her the couch, and Emma had just as quickly accepted. She d made an offer to help with the clean-up but had been all but ordered to rest.

There was a fire burning low from earlier in the evening, and Emma watched it while she attempted to relax. Kicking off her shoes, she tried laying down, sitting up, half-reclining and flopping down on her stomach. Nothing was comfortable when she couldn t breathe through her nose, and her chest felt like there were weights strapped to it. Her whole body ached. She heard Henry and Regina talking in the kitchen for a little while and then he had come in to give her a quick hug (good night, mom) before heading to his old room. She continued to hear dish and cabinet noises from the kitchen as she finally settled into the couch with her knees curled up and her head on a decorative pillow. She couldn t help thinking that this visit could have been much more enjoyable had she arrived healthy and not as a coughing, snotty mess.

Certainly her last meeting with Regina had been pleasant. More than pleasant, actually. They had met in the middle of the day by the pond. Emma thought it was a little risky, but Regina had insisted that nobody ever went there. It was a crisp day but not too cold, and they had mostly just walked and talked and worked out some sticking points about raising Henry. After a while, the conversation turned to the usual kind of casual nonsense that people talk about when they run out of acceptable topics. After their third or fourth lap around the hiking trail that meandered through the area surrounding the pond, Emma made a comment about the chill. Regina had hastily warmed her own hands with magic and then taken Emma s. It was effective at warming her hands, but she d also found herself warming up all over in spite of herself. Before she was really able to register what was happening, she d found herself lip-locked with the other woman and thoroughly enjoying it. It hadn t been some sort of driven, hungry kiss but a comfortable and confident one that didn t ask anything from or promise anything to her. That in itself had been enormously refreshing. She had known they were headed in that direction for a while, but the kiss itself came as a surprise. She smiled to herself as she remembered it.

"Here, Swan, take these. I don t want you soiling my pillows" Emma jumped in surprise as Regina set down a blue box of tissues on the coffee table. The words were severe but when she looked up, she saw a smile in the other woman s eyes.

"Thanks" she said thickly as she sat up.

"You didn t eat much earlier. Try some soup." Regina set down a small bowl of what was clearly canned chicken noodle soup with bits of green floating in it. "You have to eat something."

Emma couldn t help but grin, amused by the offering. What is this, Campbell s? she asked, lifting the spoon and taking a sip of the broth. The green bits were parsley.

"Certainly not!" huffed the other woman in mock-offense. "It s Progresso."

"Ah, of course." She ate a few spoonfuls.

Regina gestured toward the bowl of soup It s Henry s favorite.

She didn t want to say it out loud, but she had an affinity for canned soup herself. It made her much more happy than it should have that she shared this with her son. Instead, she opted for, Kid s got good taste.

They sat in silence for a little while, Emma making slow progress with her soup between sniffles, before Regina stood up. Let s fix this fire, shall we? she said as she walked over to the fireplace with an outstretched hand. She crouched in front of the dying embers and with a casual wave of her hand, the fire flared back to life and stayed strong. With her soup spoon halfway to her lips, Emma couldn t help the way her eyes slid down the other woman s back and locked on her butt. She quickly tore them away and plastered an innocent smile on her face as Regina turned around again. That s better!

"Yes, much better!" Emma agreed over-enthusiastically, earning her a suspicious look from across the room. She quickly finished the rest of her soup in an effort to pass over the moment.

"I ll take that," said Regina and picked up the bowl and spoon before heading back to the kitchen.

Emma had to admit she felt a little more like herself with the hot soup in her belly, though she still also felt like crap. She flopped dramatically back onto the couch, one leg hanging over the side, the other on the armrest, head on a pillow and one arm up over her head. Without the distraction of Madam Mayor, she sighed and watched the fire again. At least this time it was a healthy looking fire instead of a dying one. She sniffed loudly, and then found herself grabbing for a tissue to drown out a series of sneezes. When it was over, she wiped her nose and groaned in annoyance. Colds were the worst.

"You go on like that and you ll wake our son."

Though it was basically a statement of fact, there was something Emma liked about the phrase, our son . She didn t have a chance to think on that more, however, as Regina set a cup of tea in front of her on the table. What s that? She asked stupidly, sitting up again. The change in position somehow managed to clear one of her nostrils and she sniffed mightily, excited to be able to temporarily breathe out of one side.

Regina looked at her, unamused. Tea, dear. She said it like she was talking to a rather slow child.

"Right, yeah." Emma said, smiling self-consciously.

"Lemon and honey." Regina continued in a softer tone. "It might help." She then draped a soft white blanket over Emma s shoulders before coming around to sit next to her on the couch. "You looked cold."

Emma thanked her and picked up the tea cup. The blanket was warm and the hot tea gave off the strong scent of lemon. When she finally took a small sip, it burned her cracked lips but tasted wonderful and she told Regina as much. A pleased smile appeared on the other woman s face, and they sat in near silence again while Emma sipped at her sweet lemony tea. She found herself wishing circumstances were different for this evening. If she hadn t been a nasty sick mess, she could have thought of more than a few different ways to make sitting with Regina on the couch more fun. But as it was, she didn t have the energy to do much of anything other than sit and sip. Her whole body felt heavy and sluggish. Not even her eyelids were spared. When her tea was nearly finished, she set it on the table again and then leaned back against the couch, head back and eyes closed. She felt light fingers rest on her forehead for a moment and looked over What are you doing?

Regina took back her hand Checking for fever. You don t seem to have one.

The loss of contact made Emma a little sad, and she reached for the hand where it rested on Regina s knee, hoping the gesture appeared casual instead of needy. Small miracle. I feel like I have everything else though.

The hand under hers turned to interlace their fingers, and a small squeeze made her look back over to Regina, who said quietly, Swan, what are we doing? What is - she gestured between the two of them this?

Emma thought for a moment, searching the face of the slightly older woman. It was a question she had been asking herself for a while, and she hadn t come up with a real answer yet. Regina s striking features were soft in the fire light, and there was something uncharacteristically open and vulnerable in her expression. Emma smiled at her and squeezed back. I don t know. But it s good.

They sat quietly holding hands, listening to the fire crackle in the fireplace while Emma tried not to sniffle and ruin the moment. Unfortunately, she was caught by a coughing fit which ended with her doubled over and out of breath. It took her a moment to notice Regina s hand rubbing gentle circles over her back. With a sniff and a groan, Emma unceremoniously toppled over sideways so her legs hung off the side of the couch, hair in her face, and head resting on Regina s thigh. She wondered how long she d be allowed to stay there. The curtain of hair that had fallen into her face was pulled gently away and tucked back while the hand that had done it slid over her shoulder, down her arm and came to rest at her waist. She smiled, sensing that she was essentially being given permission to stay there. After a moment, she lifted her legs off the floor to lay down properly.

"Comfortable?" Came the voice from above her, seeming genuinely curious.

Emma nodded and pulled the blanket up to her chin. Very. She moved one of her own hands to rest on Regina s knee. Are you staying?

Regina considered for a moment and then sighed. I d better not. Henry might ask questions if he finds us like this in the morning.

With a small huff of annoyance, Emma mumbled, He s going to find out eventually

"Yes, that s true, but not tomorrow." She gave Emma a gentle squeeze with the hand at her waist "Soon."

"Good." said Emma, shifting her head on Regina s thigh slightly and closing her eyes. She was going to make the most of this moment alone. They hadn t been able to go anywhere really public as just the pair of them yet. Not in the context she wanted, anyway. Any time she could take here in front of the fire, relaxed and undisturbed, she would happily take. She focused on the sound of the fire and the faint smell of Regina s perfume as she slowly drifted off to sleep, vaguely aware of fingers lightly trailing through her hair.

Regina absently played with Emma s hair as she waited for her to fall asleep. It didn t take very long, but she stayed unmoving for quite a while longer, enjoying the way they were. She didn t really want to go. What she wanted was to escort Emma to the bedroom, help her undress, and slide into bed with her. What she wanted was to feel comfortable sharing a casual coffee at Granny s without people staring and wondering why the Savior was suddenly so friendly with the Evil Queen. She stared into the fire, and then down at the blonde head in her lap. If she didn t go now, she might not at all. With a reluctant sigh and some difficulty, she managed to slide her leg out from under Emma and replace it with a pillow. The younger woman stirred slightly, frowned, and then settled again without waking up. Regina turned to look at the couch where poor sick Emma lay curled into the cushions, mouth-breathing through the cold, red nose a contrast to the otherwise pale face. She waved a hand toward the fire and reduced it to embers again before walking back past the couch, blowing an unseen kiss toward the sleeping Savior as she went. Everybody would know soon enough, but for now, Emma was her little secret, and she got a little bit of a thrill from that. 


End file.
